‘Cave Creek Wild West Days’ set for Nov. 5 - 8

October 28, 2009

CAVE CREEK – “Cave Creek Wild West Days™” will take place Thursday through Sunday, Nov. 5 - 8. Coordinated by the non-profit Cave Creek Merchants Chamber of Commerce, the seventh annual event will once again transport the community back to the late 1800s and provide several dozen mini-events at various locations throughout the festive weekend.
The event kicks off on Thursday, Nov. 5 with its “Cowboy, Spikes & Spurs” golf tournament at Rancho Manana Golf Resort. The Cave Creek Little Rascals will perform their “Circle the Wagons” Review at 4:30 p.m. at the Cave Creek Coffee Company on both Thursday and Friday.More...

It’s a festival of bikes in Cave Creek

By Sara Fassil | October 28, 2009

Soldier Ride, sponsored by Wounded Warrior Project, concludes here

CAVE CREEK – The Town of Cave Creek’s first Bicycle Festival is taking place on the weekend of Nov. 13 – 15 at Frontier Town to help raise money to purchase State Trust Land for open space.

The town wants to obtain 4,000 acres of open space to connect Cave Creek Regional Park with Spur Cross Ranch Conservation Area, said Mike Rigney, Assistant Utilities Manager for Cave Creek and event coordinator of the Bicycle Festival. He said this would double the size of these parks.

The town needs to raise approximately $1 million in order to complete this plan.
This weekend festival will feature two main bicycle events, a mountain bike race on Saturday and the Discovery Road Ride on Sunday. The trail for the mountain bike race is about 20 miles. The first male and female bicyclists to finish this race will split a $500 cash prize donated by Marc Peagler, owner of the Silver Spur Saloon.

Custom trophies and bicycle products will also be awarded to the first three bicyclists who finish the race. And all bicyclists who finish the race will be given a hand-made medallion and ribbon.

The Discovery Road Race will have two route options from between which bikers will choose, a 35-mile route and a 50-mile route. The main difference in the routes, other than the distance, is the 50-mile route has a steeper and more difficult climb.

“Having these two options provides experienced riders with more of a challenge and less experienced riders an option that takes in the majority of the route without some steep climbs,” said Rigney.

Registration for the mountain bike race and road ride will cost $50 before Oct. 31. The price increases to $65 on Nov. 1, and the last day to register for the event will be Nov. 12. No other fees apply for attendance to this festival.

Visitors can also attend other activities, including a parade, outdoor concerts, vendor fairs, fireworks and the Fat Tire beer garden. A ride-in movie theater for bike riders, which has the same concept as a drive-in movie theater, will feature movies related to mountain biking.

This festival welcomes anyone interested, but it caters to those who love the outdoors, said Rigney. He intends to make the Bicycle Festival an annual event and hopes to bring people to Cave Creek to get to know the area and participate in other community events.

“We want to show Cave Creek as a place where bicyclists are welcome,” said Rigney.
Visitors will also have the opportunity to cheer for the bicyclists participating in the Soldier Ride, sponsored by Wounded Warrior Project. These riders are wounded Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who began their ride in Las Vegas, Nevada and will be finishing the race in Cave Creek on Saturday at Frontier Town.

There are 24 sponsors contributing to this festival. Some of the major sponsors include Frontier Town, Flat Tire Bike Shop, Desert Foothills Land Trust, Buffalo Chip Saloon, American Diabetes Association, APS and Trek Bicycles.